all images © gustavo sanabria“We want literature to seize the streets and become the conqueror of public spaces, freely offering to those who walk by a space free of traffic which for a few hours of the night will succumb to the modest power of the written word.” is how the Spanish design group luzinteruptus frames their latest installation.
luzinteruptus, known for their illuminated installations in public places, placed 800 lighted books on Water Street, under the Brooklyn Bridge, in New York City.
The installation, ‘literature versus traffic’, takes an “urban space conventionally reserved for speed, pollution and noise” and transforms it “to a place of peacefulness, relaxation and coexistence.”
It is set up to allow people to walk around the books and to even read them. They are welcome to take the books home, essentially allowing the installation to recycle itself.
Their hope is that when all is said and done and the cars return to occupy the street the memories of the people that experienced the installation and interacted with the books will have altered their relationship with the environment.
More (including images) at designboom
Thanks to TeleRead for the lead